The British Free Corps was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, made up of British and Dominion prisoners of war who had been recruited by Germany. The unit was originally known as the Legion of St George. Research by British historian Adrian Weale has identified 54 men who belonged to this unit at one time or another, some for only a few days. At no time did it reach more than 27 men in strength.
The SS-Standarte "Kurt Eggers" was an SS propaganda formation (SS-Standarte) of Nazi Germany during World War II. It publicised the actions of Waffen-SS combat units. The "Berichter" of the Standarte were fully trained and equipped for combat and expected to fight actively, if the situation demanded it.
Saxlingham Nethergate is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England, about 9.5 miles (15 km) south of Norwich.
Sir John Patrick Richardson, was a British art historian and biographer of Pablo Picasso. Richardson also worked as an industrial designer and as a reviewer for The New Observer.
Reginald Eric Pleasants was a British national who joined the Waffen-SS serving in the British Free Corps during the Second World War.
Adrian Weale is a British writer, journalist, illustrator and photographer of Welsh origin. He was educated at Latymer Upper School, University of York, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Joint Services Command and Staff College.
Douglas Webster St Aubyn Berneville-Claye, born Douglas Berneville Claye, was a British Nazi collaborator and member of the SS British Free Corps during the Second World War.
Roy Nicolas Courlander,, nicknamed 'Reg', was a British-born New Zealand soldier who became an Unterscharführer in the German Waffen-SS British Free Corps during the Second World War.
Thomas Haller Cooper, also known as Tom Böttcher, was a member of the German Waffen-SS British Free Corps and former member of the British Union of Fascists.
George Frank McLardy MPS was a member of the British Union of Fascists, a British Nazi collaborator and an Unterscharführer in the Waffen-SS British Free Corps during the Second World War.
Colonel Archibald Christie was a British businessman and military officer. He was the first husband of mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie; they married in 1914 and divorced in 1928. They separated in 1927 after a major rift due to his infidelity and obtained a divorce the following year. During that period Agatha wrote some of her most renowned detective novels. Shortly after the divorce, Christie married Nancy Neele, and the couple lived quietly for the rest of their lives. Christie became a successful businessman and was invited to be on the boards of several major companies.
Kenneth Edward Jordan Berry was a British seaman who was taken as a prisoner of war in 1940 when his ship was sunk. While in prison camp he was persuaded to join the British Free Corps of the Waffen-SS as an SS-Mann during the Second World War. He was associated with the unit until 29 April 1945, when he could not be found when the Corps were leaving Neustrelitz, and was left behind. He received a nine-month sentence after the war, 'the lightest sentence passed on any traitor'.
Alfred Vivian Minchin was a British merchant seaman who was taken prisoner by a German destroyer after his ship, the SS Empire Ranger, one of a Murmansk convoy, was sunk by German bombers off Norway. He held the rank of Sturmmann in the Waffen-SS British Free Corps during the Second World War. He was taken prisoner on 28 March 1942. It was he who suggested the name for the British Free Corps. By 8 March 1945 he 'was being treated for scabies in the SS hospital at Lichtefelde-West.' The National Archives holds the depositions for his trial at the Central Criminal Court under reference CRIM 1/485 and a Home Office file on him under reference HO 45/25817. He was 'convicted at Central Criminal Court on 5 February 1946 of conspiring to assist the enemy and sentenced to 7 years penal servitude' for offences against the Defence Regulations. He died in Somerset in February 1998 at the age of 81.
Edwin Barnard Martin was a Canadian member of the British Free Corps, a component of the armed forces of Nazi Germany, during the Second World War.
Henry Alfred Symonds was a British soldier who served in the British Free Corps of the Waffen-SS during World War II, attaining the rank of Rottenführer
William Alan Watson Shearer was a member of the British Free Corps in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. Shearer was born in Northamptonshire in August 1917. A Lieutenant in the 4th Seaforth Highlanders, he was the only British officer to join the Corps, with the exception of the brief involvement of Douglas Berneville-Claye. This was the result of his having suffered a serious nervous breakdown in March 1943. He had become suicidal in the wake of this. He rarely left his room and would not put on his BFC uniform. After a few weeks he was returned to the Ansbach mental asylum and eventually repatriated to Britain by the Red Cross in January 1945. He died in Northamptonshire in July 1995 at the age of 77.
Brigadier Leonard Parrington was a British Army officer. He joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1911 and served with them in the First World War in which he was mentioned in despatches four times and was awarded the Military Cross. In the inter-war period he was seconded as an adjutant to the Territorial Army in the East of England, as an instructor at the Indian Artillery School and as part of the British military mission to the Egyptian Army. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War Parrington was promoted to colonel; he became an acting brigadier in 1941 and was posted to Greece. Allied forces were pushed back during the German invasion and Parrington, in charge of the evacuation of remaining troops, was forced to surrender on 29 April 1941. In captivity he inspected German holiday camps set up for prisoners of war. He was mistakenly thought to be pro-Nazi and was recommended, without his knowledge, for command of the British Free Corps, a collaborationist unit of the German SS. Parrington retired from the army in 1946.
